Alzahraa Abdelatty

Starting phase of laying chicken life is the building stone for rearing and production stages. Since, fecal microbial transplantation (FMT) regulates the gut microbial diversity and affects the productive performance of the bird. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of FMT from feed-efficient broiler chicken could program the diversity of gut microbiota and growth of recipient native slow growing egg-laying chicks. For this, a total of 150 (one-day-old) Jing Hong chicks were randomly assigned into two groups, each group consisted of 5 replicates ( = 15 bird/ replicate). The control group (CON) and FMT recipient birds (FMT) fed on basal diet, the FMT group received an oral daily dose of FMT prepared from Cobb-500 chickens. The FMT performed from the 1d to 28d of age, through the experimental period, feed intake and body weight were recorded weekly. At the end of a 28-day trial, carcass traits were assessed and cecal samples were collected for microbiome assessment 16S rRNA-based metagenomic analysis to characterize the diversity and functions of microbial communities. The data were statistically analyzed using R software. Body weight and body weight gain increased, and FCR decreased ( = 0.01) in FMT group. The relative abundance of and the (F/B) ratio were increased due to FMT administration ( = 0.01). A higher relative abundance of , , and were presented in the FMT group. Meanwhile, , , and were more abundant in the CON group ( < 0.01). Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) pathways for microbial functions regarding amino acid metabolism, secondary metabolites biosynthesis, carbohydrate metabolism, energy metabolism, and enzyme families, cofactors, and vitamins were significantly annotated in the FMT group. Overall, FMT administration from the donor of highly feed-efficient broilers improved weight gain by reshaping a distinct gut microbiome, which may be related to the metabolism and health in the recipients laying chicks, providing new insight on the application of the FMT technique for early life programming of laying chickens.

Hyperketonemia is a metabolic disease in dairy cows, associated with negative nutrition balance (NNB) induced by low dry matter intake (DMI) and increased nutrient requirements. Hyperketonemia could induce metabolic stress, which might indirectly affect mammary tissue. Autophagy is a highly conserved physiological process that results in the turnover of intracellular material, and is involved in maintaining cellular homeostasis under the challenge of metabolic stress induced by NNB. The aim of this study was to investigate the autophagy status and autophagy-related pathways AMP-activated kinase α (AMPKα) and mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) in the mammary glands of dairy cows with hyperketonemia. Cows with hyperketonemia [CWH, n = 10, blood β-hydroxybutyrate (BHB) concentration 1.2 to 3.0 mmol/L] and cows without hyperketonemia (CWOH, n = 10, BHB < 1.2 mmol/L) from 3 to 12 DIM were randomly selected from the herd. The mammary tissue and blood samples were collected from these cows between 0630 and 0800 h, before feeding, at 3 to 12 d in milk. Serum concentrations of glucose, BHB, and fatty acids were determined using an autoanalyzer with commercial kits between 0630 and 0800 h, before feeding. Concentrations of fatty acids, BHB (median and interquartile range: CWH, 2.44 and 1.3, 2.82 mM; CWOH, 0.49 and 0.41, 0.57 mM), and milk fat were greater in CWH. The DMI, glucose concentration, milk production, and milk protein levels were lower in CWH. The mRNA abundance of autophagosome formation-related gene, beclin 1 (BECN1), phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase catalytic subunit type 3 (PIK3C3), autophagy-related gene (ATG) 5, ATG7, ATG12, microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 (MAP1LC3, also called LC3) and sequestosome-1 (SQSTM1, also called p62) were greater in the mammary glands of CWH. The protein abundance of LC3-II and phosphorylation level of Unc-51-like kinase 1 (ULK1) were greater in CWH, but the total ubiquitinated proteins and protein abundance of p62 were lower. Transmission electron microscopy showed an increased number of autophagosomes in the mammary glands of CWH. Furthermore, the phosphorylation of AMPKα was greater, but the phosphorylation of mTOR was lower in the mammary glands of CWH. These results indicate that activity of mTOR pathways and autophagy activity, and upregulation of AMPKα, may be response mechanisms to mitigate metabolic stress induced by hyperketonemia in the mammary glands of dairy cows.